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Media Summary

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert granted early release

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The Times and Daily Telegraph report that three babies suffering from heart conditions have died in Gaza after the Palestinian Authority (PA) refused to pay for them to be treated in Israel. According to a spokesperson for the Health Ministry in Gaza, six adults have also died. Israeli and Palestinian officials have said that the PA’s decision to stop processing payments for urgent medical care has left more than 1,600 people in Gaza on waiting lists for treatment in Israel.

The Daily Telegraph features a review of a London recital yesterday by Israeli pianist Inon Barnatan, who is described as having “pianistic flair and musical imagination to burn”.

The Times features a picture of a Palestinian family celebrating Eid al-Fitr, the end of Ramadan, at an amusement park in Gaza city.

The BBC reports that Saudi Arabia’s national airline Saudia has dismissed a picture on social media of one of its planes parked at Israel’s Ben Gurion International Airport. Spokesman Abdulrahman Al-Tayeb said: “There are some quarters that use a large number of anonymous social media accounts to spread lies, rumours and exaggerations to harm and defame the airline, a national symbol.”

All the Israeli media report that the prison parole board this morning granted an early release to former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

The Times of Israel reports that a ballistic missile test in Iran targeted a Star of David carved into the desert.

Yediot Ahronoth reports that the current crisis with Diaspora Jewry may lead to the loss of donations totalling a billion US dollars a year. Yediot Ahronoth and Haaretz both report that the leaders of AIPAC have arrived in Israel and met Naftali Bennett. This morning they will meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. On Saturday evening, the Reform and Conservative movements will hold a protest rally outside the Prime Minister’s residence in Jerusalem.

Israel Hayom reports that the newly appointed Hamas Political Bureau Director Ismail Haniyeh cannot leave the Gaza Strip because no Arab country is willing to accept him.

Haaretz reports that amid rising tensions over alleged Syrian preparations for a chemical attack, three of the US’s most important spy planes were spotted off Syria’s coast.

Maariv reports that a rocket fell in the Golan during a visit by Prime Minister Netanyahu to Katzrin.

Haaretz reports that participants in a march organised by right-wing extremist group Lehava attacked three Palestinians in downtown Jerusalem last Thursday.

The Jerusalem Post reports on a cornerstone-laying ceremony for a new medical center at Ariel University in the West Bank, in which Prime Minister Netanyahu pledged that Ariel would always remain part of Israel.

i24 news reports that a Palestinian was killed after opening fire on IDF soldiers carrying out an operation in Hebron.

The Times of Israel reports that Likud Transportation and Intelligence Minister Yisrael Katz released a video promoting his vision for building an artificial island off the coast of the Gaza Strip.